Summer is Over

I know. I know it’s the first week of August. I know it’s 5 weeks until Labor Day. And I know it’s still hot. Unreasonably hot. But it’s still true. Summer is over. This week marks my “big conference” that I attend for work each August (that unfortunately conflicts with this conference every year), and going to this convention always marks the end of summer for me. It forces me to don the professional clothes I’ve left hanging in the closet since May. It propels me into networking with colleagues, introducing my students to leaders in our field, and presenting my research. It signals the academic year that is only a few short days ahead. So for me, summer is over.

And to be honest, I’m ready for summer to be done. Not the parts of summer that include trips to Oregon, New York, Boston, and Colorado. And not the parts when my partner and I get to more leisurely wake up, walk the dogs, drink coffee, and read the paper every morning. And certainly not the parts that give me a break from teaching, allowing me to focus on my research and writing. But the truth is, I’m not a big fan of the sun and the heat. This fair-skinned, freckled Irish girl can’t hack it. No, I’m much more into fall. I love to feel a chill in the air, to curl up under a blanket, to smell the first fires of the season. I love new school supplies, new academic calendars, new beginnings that seem heralded this time of year. I love to put the shorts away (I hate them anyway), to pull out my cardigans in their array of rainbow colors, to slide back into jeans and jackets.

So perhaps it is bittersweet that summer is over. And maybe you don’t agree with me, feeling like you have a few weeks left. I don’t want to bring you down with today’s post. I don’t want to rain on your ongoing summertime parade. But for me, summer is over. And I need to start shifting gears.

What are your markers for the shifting seasons? What are you still wanting in your remaining summer? What are you looking forward to for fall?

7 Responses

Somewhere around the middle of August I start to feel that summer is over, too, and I always feel a little crazy, like I can see something nobody else can, as my spirit starts tilting towards the fall while the world around me is still rioting in their flip flops and having barbeques. I don’t know that the markers are external, or even identifiable – it’s something internal, some ticking over of the clock inside of me. I love many things about the fall, the sweaters and jeans, and the coolness, and the incredibly intense blue skies, but I also find it sad, because I know it’s the end of another year, the beginning of a winter, which can be so rough where I live. xoxo

Too soon, too soon! I feel like because of all my travels and work stress, my summer only just started. It’s my favorite season, so I tend to cling on to it for too long and then suddenly it’s mid-September and I’m shivering in a lightweight jacket and I know I have to accept it’s over…. but not yet!

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Hello!

Welcome to Life Refocused! I'm Meghan and I'm so glad you're here. Life Refocused is about my journey of being a Love Warrior and using photography to build a creative life and focus on what matters. I talk about love, vulnerability, photography, Polaroids, film, and creativity. I also share about my life and how I'm learning what matters most to live fully and passionately. You'll see that I have lots of conversations with the Universe, too. xoxo